Canterbury bus passengers can now finally buy a Motu Move card, nearly two years after the troubled national public transport card was meant to launch, with the minister backing what he calls a "world-leading" system.
Passengers can also now link child, youth and accessibility discounts to a prepaid Motu Move card or to their own contactless bank card or phone.
Speaking at the launch held at the Christchurch bus interchange, Transport Minister Chris Bishop acknowledged the project had taken "probably longer than anyone would have wanted", but said the end result would be worth the wait.
"Once we've finished it, we will be world-leading, and it will be a much better experience for passengers, and that's ultimately what I'm focused on."
Invercargill is due to switch to Motu Move next, before the end of the year. Greater Wellington is scheduled for mid-2027 and Auckland for the end of 2027.
The switch comes as SuperGold cardholders, overwhelmingly consisting of those aged over 65, prepare to lose some of their free travel in both Canterbury and Waikato.
Bishop said building concessionary discounts into contactless payments was what set the system apart from those overseas and was also why it had taken so long.
"Generally, in those systems, you're just paying a full adult fare, and it's just charging a credit card. That's actually easy. That's been around for ages," he said.
"The difference is loading concessions onto it, and that has been the technology challenge, and that's the reason why it's taken quite a long time."
He said the plan was still for Motu Move to be running nationwide by the end of 2027, adding that it was not worth relitigating how the project had reached this point.
It's the first stage of a national billion dollar plan. (Source: 1News)
"We made the decision. We're now locked and loaded onto it," Bishop said.
In June, the Transport Minister described the $1.4 billion project as "too far gone" to abandon. He told the post-Cabinet media conference he was "annoyed about it", but that his job was "basically to fix it and try to make it work".
The NZ Transport Agency has been developing the system in various forms since 2009. It missed three launch targets in nine months over 2024 and 2025.
The new national ticketing system was initially meant to launch first in Timaru in December 2024 and in Greater Christchurch in early 2025.
A December review of the national ticketing project last year found progress had been made, but delivery timelines remained "ambitious".
Gold card hours change for some regions
The rollout also comes as there are changes for older passengers and SuperGold cardholders, who currently get some free peak travel on buses in Greater Christchurch.
Environment Canterbury announced last week that SuperGold cardholders would soon have to pay a fare on weekdays between 3pm and 6.30pm across the region.
They will still travel free on weekdays between 9am and 3pm and after 6.30pm, as well as all day on weekends and public holidays.
The regional council has funded the extra afternoon window itself since 2022, on top of the nationally funded SuperGold scheme, which covers off-peak travel only.
Public transport core service lead councillor Joe Davies said customers would receive plenty of notice before the change takes effect.
"We recognise this change will affect some SuperGold customers and will result in additional travel costs for people who currently travel during the weekday afternoon."
The start date is yet to be confirmed but the regional council said it would coincide with the Motu Move rollout, and that passengers would be given notice.
A similar change is on the table further north as the Waikato Regional Council consults on aligning its SuperGold free bus travel with the national off-peak scheme, as part of a fares review before Motu Move reaches the region in 2027.
NZTA had considered bringing regional SuperGold hours into line with the national scheme while developing Motu Move, though it's unclear if that work was still ongoing.
Some other regions, including Auckland, fund free afternoon peak travel for cardholders, while other locales such as Wellington do not.
Local councils, the Government and the private sector are all on board. (Source: 1News)
'Our buses are full' – Canterbury representative
Environment Canterbury chairperson Deon Swiggs also used the launch to lobby the minister for more buses, saying some peak-hour services were already overcrowded.
"Now we've got the payment system sorted, all we need is a few more buses ... there's no point in having great cards and people flashing them at buses when our buses are full."
Bishop said there would be "more money for public transport" in the next funding period, but would not commit to bringing forward more service for Christchurch.
The previous Labour government set aside $78 million to speed up Christchurch bus improvements, but the money was ultimately redirected to the Brougham St upgrade and a second Ashburton bridge in December 2024 under the coalition.
SHARE ME